SBC Voices

The average attendance at the main weekly worship service for a cooperating Southern Baptist church is around 100. LifeWay gave me a figure of 70 a few years ago along with a median size of 125. There are different ways to calculate it but, regardless of the method, the Southern Baptist Convention is a convention of small churches.  But only a fraction of churches get the attention, provide the high-profile leadership positions and, for better or worse, provide the public with what an SBC church looks like. Sometimes this is positive. Sometimes it is negative. Average sized SBC … [Read more...] about Lost in the clamor of clergy abuse, CRT/I, and any other controversy: the SBC is and always has been a convention of small churches

I'm at a place where I am free to worship where I wish and I wished yesterday to worship at the church of a friend who is in a new pastorate nearby. The church is quite old and has quite a history, mostly not so good in recent decades. The building is new, courtesy of the Almighty (a lightning strike to the steeple) and the insurance company. It's a traditional looking Southern Baptist church. I make no criticism of the church where I have been a member for a few years and in which I have had modest staff responsibilities. It is new and non-traditional in every way. The pastor is an … [Read more...] about A red brick church, a piano, an organ, hymns, pews, and an old guy preaching behind a real pulpit: Hallelujah!

And, he's getting older. The Barna research on the aging of American pastors is getting a little old itself. The most recent was 2017. It was a typical state-of-the-church handwringer. Pastors are aging, as in the average age of a senior pastor is increasing (54 in that study). Really old pastors are increasing, 6% in 1992, nearly tripled by 2017. Probably significantly higher in 2021. Only one in seven pastors was under 40 in 2017. Half of pastors are over 55. More pastors over 65 than are under 40. (The research is about senior pastors.) So, what about the only … [Read more...] about “Tell me about your pastor.” “Well, he’s an old guy…”

The 2021 Presidential election of the Southern Baptist Convention looks to be one of the most contested in recent history.  But I think we all would do well to remember the history of the position, how elections were handled, and why it mattered. The SBC President is the man who represents, in some part, the SBC to the country at large.  He serves as an unofficial face for the SBC and is often asked to preach at various events as part of that role. But the President is more than ceremonial. In their book  SBC FAQs by Keith Harper and Amy Whitfield they answer the question, “What does the … [Read more...] about A Brief History of SBC Presidents

Voices readers sometimes complain about the articles here, generally along the lines of who Voices is for and against. Reader griped about Randy Adams not receiving positive print here. Dude, get educated, then gripe. Adams is one of the four SBC presidential candidates and I've written eight articles that feature Randy Adams in the title and several others where he is prominent in the body of the piece. May I say that Adams give boatloads of fodder for bloggers; thus, the quantity of articles on him. Most of these are linked below. ______________________ Abuser … [Read more...] about So I watched an hour of Randy Adams live last night

So, you come here to fight about Russell Moore, Beth Moore, or Dudley Moore? This is not the post for you. Want to argue about empathy, sympathy, or symphony? Move along, nothing to see here.   But if you're up for some pointless diversion, it's March Madness time again. We are at ESPN with this link: SBCVoices Tournament Madness The prize? Bragging rights. The password? GoHogsGo27 May the odds be ever in your favor.   WOO PIG SOOIE! … [Read more...] about Diversion 2021